To scoop up the chestnut and pumpkin cream, use a few sheets of crispy carasau bread — ideally "guttiau", meaning seasoned with oil and salt.

Ingredients for chestnut cream for 2 people

250 g of chestnuts, boiled or steamed
300 g of pumpkin
2 potatoes
half a leek or 1 onion
approx. 500 ml vegetable stock
250 ml fresh whole organic milk
fresh sage
a few sheets of carasau bread
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Crema di castagne — Ingredients that smell of autumn for the chestnut and pumpkin cream © Beatrice Spagoni

Method

Bring the stock to the boil. Meanwhile, peel the pumpkin and cut it into cubes. Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes as well and place them in cold water to reduce the starch and prevent them from turning dark. Trim the leek and slice it finely, then place it in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and lightly sauté. Drain half the potatoes and add them to the leek, along with the pumpkin cubes and 2/3 of the chestnuts.

Season lightly with salt and pepper, then leave to flavour for a few minutes over a high heat, before covering the vegetables with hot stock and putting the lid on. Lower the heat and leave to cook for approximately 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the remaining potato cubes, drained and dried. Season lightly and brown for approximately 10 minutes, then add the reserved chestnuts and leave them to flavour for a few minutes too; season with a few chopped sage leaves and remove from the heat. Once everything is cooked through, pour in the milk with the now-tender potatoes, pumpkin and chestnuts and blend with a stick blender until you obtain a smooth, fairly thick cream, then remove from the heat. Serve the chestnut and pumpkin cream piping hot, scattered with a little chopped sage, a spoonful of the pan-fried potatoes and chestnuts per bowl, and a few pieces of carasau sheet.

Chestnut and pumpkin cream with carasau. An autumn recipe